Ridgecrest's Community Development Committee received a brief update Thursday on the pending status of the Walmart Super Center project.

Gary Parsons, the city's economic development manager, said current litigation between the City of Ridgecrest and the California Department of Justice was tying up funds that were preallocated for public infrastructure projects around the planned Walmart facility.

Parsons explained the city required a certificate of compliance from the DOF as part of the Redevelopment Agency wind down.

“We are clean all the way through except for the $3 million litigation,” Parsons said.

He referred to a dispute over a 2011 loan the city's now-dissolved RDA floated to help finance a senior apartment complex at Downs Street and Church Avenue.

Plans to build a Walmart Super Center and surrounding infrastructure have been in the works for years, but have been consistently stalled for one reason or another.

In July 2012, the city council voted to use $2.8 million of $24 million in Tax Allocation Bond funding for public infrastructure projects.

As soon as the litigation has been resolved and a certificate of compliance issued, the developer would receive the funds.

“Because we do not have that, we came back with an alternative offer which was down from the initial $12 million,” Parsons said.

Parsons said the alternative option was $5 million, or the minimum requirement for the project. He said while it was less expensive from the city's standpoint, it would also reduce the amount of capital improvements.

Under the alternative plan, flood control improvements would also be severely scaled back, as would some street projects.

A third option would move forward with the project and Walmart advance the $2.8 million for the public improvements. The city would repay the loan, with interest, when the TAB funds became available for spending.

However, Parsons said the developer had recently stopped responding to emails and phone calls.

“My belief is that the developer went back to Walmart and Walmart has not yet given him an answer on which plan they want to use,” Parsons said.

Mayor Pro Tem Jason Patin said it wasn't really a new concept.

Parsons said there was a contract in place for the $2.8 million in improvements, and would require minor changes if both parties went forward with Walmart advancing the seed money.

Vice Mayor Chip Holloway said if Walmart went ahead with option three, the TAB funding would likely be available by the time the developer needed anything.

Public Services Director Jim McRae said it was likely a matter of Walmart. choosing a time slot, and a matter of return of investment on the project. A new Walmart saw a 10 percent return of investment, while an expansion like Ridgecrest saw 3 percent.

Page 2 of 2 - “It looks like the city has done everything it could possibly do to offer Walmart a plan,” Holloway said.